Choosing Blindly: Instructional Materials, Teacher Effectiveness, and the Common Core
Chingos, M., & Whitehurst, G. J. · 2012
grade Dreviewindependentmixed
Sample
Policy review
Population
US K-12.
Design
Defines the 'cheap lever' thesis: textbooks cost ~$35/pupil and (pre-CCSS) differed by 0.05-0.22 SD.
Key findings
The cost premise stands (curriculum is nearly free to change); the benefit premise is era-dependent. Surviving actionable rule: avoiding a minimal-guidance constructivist loser is worth up to ~0.1-0.2 SD; choosing among mainstream texts today is worth ~0-0.05.
Genetic confound
N/A.
Replication notes
The benefit premise held pre-CCSS (Agodini, Indiana, CA) but fails post-CCSS (Blazar ~0.00-0.03). The surviving version is asymmetric: avoid demonstrated losers.
Effects
| Outcome | Metric | Value | Measure | Timing | Vs | Horizon | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claimed curriculum-effect magnitude | claim | instructional-materials effects 'rival' teacher-quality differences (pre-CCSS evidence) | mixed | n/a | unclear | not-applicable | domain-skill |
Cited by
- Curriculum choice as a school-level levermixedconf: highgc: low
- Math curriculum choice — how much does the textbook matter?mixedconf: highgc: low